'lost' season finale

So tonight is the second season finale of "Lost" on ABC. The video on the linked site partially explains why the show has become my favorite on television - it is not afraid to deal with the tension between faith and doubt, belief and science. At the same time, though, we aren't told whether doubt or faith is better, and in some ways, are expected to have a little of both.

I find myself wanting questions to be answered, but at the same time, learning to live with unanswered questions.

Most importantly, though, I am thankful for a show that doesn't involve crime scenes, court rooms, e.r.'s or some new twist on the family sitcom.

Thanks to my friends Jason and Amy Fiedler for introducing my wife and I to the show, which I honestly thought was going to be a bad version of Gilligan's Island when I first saw the previews.

drawing a line...

So jails have contracts with evangelical Christian organizations, who come into the jails and perform religious services (including Ramadan and Rosh Hashanah, as well as Christmas), according to this article in the Washington Post. The ACLU, though, is arguing that the contracts (which include public money going to the Christian organization) violate the separation of church and state.

It's somewhat odd to me that this evangelical organization would perform services for other religions. How could they effectively do this and remain evangelical (which is partially what the ACLU is saying, I think)? However, it doesn't strike me as something that is discriminatory if the organization is willing to perform services for all religions. It would be different if the organization was performing services for Ramadan that included the message of Jesus Christ, but it doesn't sound like they're doing that from the article. Finally, how does the jail portion out funds to different religions in a nondiscriminatory way? What if 95% of the inmates are of the Christian faith? On the other hand, shouldn't we as a nation protect the interests of the 5%?

Douglas Coupland's new book is out, for those who may be interested. It's on my list of books to read this summer, so i'll post a comment about it later.

Read an interview about it here.

being religious and left...

This article highlights the tension that often exists when religion tries to play a role in leftist politics.

Particularly interesting is the interchange between Tony Campolo, a liberal baptist minister, and a man in a tunic. Campolo is arguing that spiritual leaders should know the Bible and use it more in Washington, because powerful people in Washington respect the Bible, even if they don't know what it says.

The man's response: "I thought this was a spiritual progressives' conference," he said. "I don't want to play the game of 'the Bible says this or that,' or that we get validation from something other than ourselves. We should be speaking from our hearts."

why not debate?

Testy moment in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

I guess I agree with Specter here. I'd probably oppose the amendment, but don't see why the Senate shouldn't debate it. What's wrong with debate?

NOTE: I would actually oppose the amendment because I don't feel it's the federal government's job to define marriage. I feel it should be left to religious institutions, as marriage is, after all, a religious institution itself.

Who isn't a "values voter"?

In this article, George F. Will, a conservative I really enjoy, wonders why we use the term "values voter" only when talking about social conservatives. He argues (and I agree) that everyone is voting their values - we just disagree on what values are most important.

He also makes a compelling argument that liberalizing divorce laws in our country (something most social conservatives would not endorse) actually promoted our countries core values (freedom and happiness) and notes that one of the most liberal divorce laws of all time was signed by none other than Ronald Reagan - who George F. Will has always admired.

Finally, he seems to imply that coopting the phrase "values voter" may, in the long run, hurt the socially conservative agenda, because it simply sounds arrogant.

For more thoughts on why Ronald Reagan's conservatism was better for our country than the current administration's, check out this article by Donald Miller.

what would you do?

CNN reports that a New Jersey court has ordered a sixteen year old to inform the parents of any girl he dates that he was convicted as a sex offender. So someone asks to date your daughter and then tells you he commited a sexual act with a 6 year old when he was 14. What would you do? Why didn't they just forbid him to date in general - it would have been the same thing?

somewhere over the rainbow...

so i'm playing sudoku on my laptop while my wife is watching american idol (no, really). i haven't seen much of american idol this year, but this girl, katharine mcphee, starts singing "somewhere over the rainbow," one of my favorite songs of all time. i absolutely loved it. so then i find out that simon picked that song for her to sing.

is it just me, or is simon cowell the absolute best character in all of reality television? i haven't seen all that much reality television in my life, but simon plays the "bad guy" role fantastically. problem is that i almost always agree with his opinions. does that make me a bad guy? why does everyone hate him?

UPDATE: So I finished watching american idol and this taylor hicks guy is very annoying.

new music on myspace...

I just posted some different music on myspace, if anyone is interested.

There is a live version of "lost" that was recorded at the Daily Grind in Marshfield, WI in December of '04.

There is also a live version of a song I've only performed once called "creed." As it is live, it was obviously recorded the only time I performed it, which was June of '04.

I've also posted a song entitled "nikki," which is about a girl (no one in particular) who grows up with an abusive/absentee father. It is one of few songs I have written on piano, although there are a few more recently that have not yet been recorded (stay tuned).

Enjoy!

done with finals

I have officially completed my first year of law school at the University of Wisconsin and for the most part, it was a very rewarding experience. It was certainly the most challenging thing i've ever done, but a little hard work never hurt anyone. I'm looking forward to an internship this summer with the legal department at the Marshfield Clinic and a clerkship with Judge Fiedler at the Dane County Circuit Court next fall.

I've got about a week now until my job starts, so I'll be killing time at Madison coffee shops and trying to write on to the Wisconsin Law Review and Wisconsin International Law Journal (either of which I would love to join this fall).

UPDATE: The internship at the Clinic will now start on June 5. So I will be in Madison until then (for the most part).

Another Perspective

There has been a lot of discussions about The Da Vinci Code lately in Christian circles (Focus on the Family, Opus Dei, Chuck Colson). An interview with Brian McClaren raises what I believe are some of the reasons the book is so intriguing and also discusses why some Christians are very afraid of it.

I think McClaren's point about a general lack of knowledge about church history is especially worthy of note.

I also tend to agree with McClaren that the interest generated in this book only shows that people are still fascinated with the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, but fed up with the way the institutional church is portraying him. Not that I believe Brown's view of history is accurate, but what is it about Jesus' humanity that is so scary to the church? Why are we afraid of the fact that Jesus was a sexual being just like us? And why did the church go to such lengths to make Mary Magdalene into a prostitute instead of a disciple who lived to follow Jesus - why was it important to portray the woman (Mary) as sexually immoral and the man (Jesus) as so divine as to be uninterested in sex altogether?

wish i was there...

Kudos to The Edge (of U2 fame) for this. Wish I would've been one of the lucky 30 at the local New Orleans bar to catch his performance. And on a personal note, as someone who's been to the areas the Edge is visiting, I truly hope those areas are one day restored to their full glory as the center of some of the best music America has ever offered the world.

Amen...

If you go to church, read this post from "Finding Rhythm".

Burnside Writer's Collective

Burnside Writer's Collective, one of my favorite places on the web, is planning to start a sport's section (see editor's note and funny article here). This makes me happy, although they have been writing about sports for quite a while (see my previous post).